I agree with Betty in this very witty Betty MacDonald story Betty MacDonald: Nothing more to say by Wolfgang Hampel.

I
can't imagine to live in a country with him as so-called elected
President although there are very good reasons to remain there to fight
against these brainless politics.

Donald Trump last night
praised Vladimir Putin as "very smart" for not engaging in a tit-for-tat
row with the US over the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats accused of
espionage.In a piece of high diplomatic theatre, the Russian president
defied expectations of a Cold War-style mutual expulsion and instead
met the Obama administration's sanctions with a show of magnanimity.

Chiding the outgoing
president for a provocation designed to undermine US-Russian relations,
Mr Putin chose instead to look forward to the incoming administration of
Mr Trump who has promised a re-set with Moscow.

Don't miss these very interesting articles below, please.

Lately,
it appears Trump has gone back into the field to drag in a whole new
bunch of State contenders.

My favorite is Representative Dana
Rohrabacher of California, a person you have probably never heard of
even though he’s been in Congress since the 1980s and is currently head
of the prestigious Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats.

I think the future dinosaur flatulence will be the behaviour of 'Pussy' and his very strange government.

Poor World! Poor America!

The most difficult case in Mrs.Piggle-Wiggle's career

Hello 'Pussy', this is Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.

You
took calls from foreign leaders on unsecured phone lines, without
consultung the State Department. We have to change your silly behaviour
with a new Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle cure. I know you are the most difficult
case in my career - but we have to try everything.......................

Besides him ( by the way the First Lady's place ) his 10 year old son was bored to death and listened to this 'exciting' victory speech.

The old man could be his great-grandfather.

The
boy was very tired and thought: I don't know what this old guy is
talking about. Come on and finish it, please. I'd like to go to bed.Dear 'great-grandfather' continued and praised the Democratic candidate.

This
is incredible! I'll You get what you pay/vote for and Trump is the
epitome of this ideology. America I won't feel bad for you because you
don't need my sympathy for what's coming but I am genuinely scared for
you. 'Forgive them lord for they know not who they do' or maybe they do
but just don't care about their future generations who will suffer for
this long after the culprits have passed away.

In 2006, Palin obtained a passport[88] and in 2007 traveled for the first time outside of North America on a trip to Kuwait. There she visited the Khabari Alawazem Crossing at the Kuwait–Iraq border and met with members of the Alaska National Guard at several bases.[89] On her return journey she visited injured soldiers in Germany.[90]That's the reason why very intelligent and brilliant Sarah Palin knows the World very well. Sarah and ' Pussygate ' will rule America and the World - what a couple.

If so would you be so kind to share them?

Our next Betty MacDonald fan club project is a collection of these unique dedications.

If you
share your dedication from your Betty MacDonald - and Mary Bard Jensen
collection you might be the winner of our new Betty MacDonald fan club
items.

Thank you so much in advance for your support.

Thank you so much for sending us your favourite Betty MacDonald quote.

More info are coming soon.

Wolfgang
Hampel's Betty MacDonald and Ma and Pa Kettle biography and Betty
MacDonald interviews have fans in 40 countries. I'm one of their many devoted fans.

Many Betty MacDonald - and Wolfgang Hampel fans are very interested in a Wolfgang Hampel CD and DVD with his
very funny poems and stories.

We are going to publish new Betty MacDonald essays on Betty MacDonald's gardens and nature in Washington State.Tell us the names of this mysterious couple please and you can win a very new Betty MacDonald documentary.

The series premiered on September 3,
1951, the same day as "Search for Tomorrow," and ended on August 1,
1952.

Although it did well in the ratings, it had difficulty
attracting a steady sponsor. This episode features Betty Lynn (later
known for her work on "The Andy Griffith Show") as Betty MacDonald, John
Craven as Bob MacDonald, Doris Rich as Ma Kettle, and Frank Twedell as
Pa Kettle.

Betty MacDonald fan club exhibition will be fascinating with the international book editions and letters by Betty MacDonald.I can't wait to see the new Betty MacDonald documentary.

Donald Trump praises 'very smart' Vladimir Putin for not expelling US diplomats in response to sanctions

Donald Trump last night
praised Vladimir Putin as "very smart" for not engaging in a tit-for-tat
row with the US over the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats accused of
espionage.In a piece of high diplomatic theatre, the Russian president
defied expectations of a Cold War-style mutual expulsion and instead
met the Obama administration's sanctions with a show of magnanimity.

Chiding the outgoing
president for a provocation designed to undermine US-Russian relations,
Mr Putin chose instead to look forward to the incoming administration of
Mr Trump who has promised a re-set with Moscow.

"We
will not create problems for American diplomats. We will not expel
anyone," he said. “Furthermore, I invite all children of US diplomats
accredited in Russia to the Christmas and New Year tree in the Kremlin.”

Watch | Lavrov calls for Russia to expel US diplomats
00:38

He added: "Further steps
towards the restoration of Russian-American relations will be built on
the basis of the policy which the administration of President D. Trump
will carry out."Earlier Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister, publically
recommend that Russia expel 35 US diplomats and close down two US
diplomatic compounds.

"Russia's foreign ministry... has requested that the Russian
president approve declaring as personae non gratae 31 employees of the
US embassy in Moscow and four diplomats from the US consulate in Saint
Petersburg," Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said in
televised comments.The move would have amounted to a tit-for-tat response to American sanctions.

President Barack Obama's
said on Friday the US would expel 35 Russian diplomats and close down
two diplomatic compounds in New York and Maryland in retaliation for
Moscow directing hackers to interfere in the presidential elections. The announcement provoked fury in Moscow, where many officials attacked Mr Obama personally for the move. Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian prime minister, wrote on
Twitter that the current administration was "ending its term in
anti-Russian agony."

The foreign ministry called the decision a "crushing blow to the prestige of America and its leadership."Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian foreign
ministry wrote on Facebook: "Today America and the American people have
been humiliated as their own President." The Russian Embassy in London called it "Cold War deja vu", and said the US "wanted to destroy" ties with Moscow.

The diplomatic officials
from the Russian embassy in Washington and its consulate in San
Francisco were deemed "persona non grata" and told to leave the country
within 72 hours.Mr Obama said the 35 expelled diplomats were "intelligence operatives".He also announced it was closing two compounds owned by the
Russian government, and used for intelligence operations, in New York
and Maryland, from noon on Friday.At the same time he ordered sanctions against Russia's GRU and FSB intelligence agencies, and six named Russian individuals.They included Lt Gen Korobov, head of the GRU, and three of
his deputies. The other two were Alexei Belan and Yevgeny Bogachev, two
Russians wanted by the FBI for cyber crimes for years.Also sanctioned were three computer companies alleged to have provided "material support" to the GRU.

The developments marked an unprecedented new low in US-Russian relations under Mr Obama's presidency.Mr Obama accused Russia of "aggressive harassment" and said
"all Americans should be alarmed by Russia's actions". He said hacking
"could only have been directed by the highest levels of the Russian
government".Mr Obama said: "These actions follow repeated private and
public warnings that we have issued to the Russian government, and are a
necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm US interests in
violation of established international norms of behaviour. Such
activities have consequences."

He added: "This is not
the sum total of our response to Russia’s aggressive activities. We will
continue to take a variety of actions at a time and place of our
choosing, some of which will not be publicised."A US official added: "By imposing costs on the Russian
diplomats in the United States, by denying them access to the two
facilities, we hope the Russian government reevaluates its own actions."It was understood that Russia's ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak, will not be one of those expelled.It comes after the the CIA and FBI concluded that Russia was
responsible for hacking the Democratic Party and releasing embarrassing
emails with the intention of helping Mr Trump to win the White House.

Russia has repeatedly
denied the hacking accusations. A spokesman for Russia's Foreign
Ministry said: "If Washington really does take new hostile steps they
will be answered. "Any action against Russian diplomatic missions in the
US will immediately bounce back on US diplomats in Russia."Mr Trump said he would meet intelligence officials next week to hear evidence of the Russian hacking.He said: "It's time for our country to move on to bigger and better things."Nevertheless, in the interest of our country and its great
people, I will meet with leaders of the intelligence community next week
in order to be updated on the facts of this situation."

Kellyanne Conway, one of
Mr Trump's top advisers, told CNN that Mr Trump stood by his claims
that it was unclear whether Russia carried out the hacks and insisted
that alleged Russian hacking was being used to try and delegitimise Mr
Trump's victory.The US State Department said the expelled diplomats had been
"acting in a manner inconsistent with their diplomatic or consular
status".

It also said the US
actions were a response to increased harassment of US diplomats in
Moscow over the last year. In 2001 the US expelled 50 Russian diplomats
from the country over accusations of spying. Russia responded in kind,
ordering 50 US diplomats to leave its own country. The Russian Embassy in London added in its 'lame duck' memed
tweet: "Everybody, including the American people, will be glad to see
the last of this hapless administration."According to one US official there are a total of about 100
Russian spies in the US, so about one third of them are being ejected.

The compound being
closed in Maryland is a sprawling coastal estate purchased by the Soviet
Union in the 1970s. It is listed as the summer retreat for the Russian
embassy but has been used for espionage, according to US officials.The Kremlin accused the US of an "aggressive foreign policy" and behaving "like a bull in a china shop".Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said: "There is no
alternative here to the principle of reciprocity. We will deliver
significant discomfort to the US side in the same areas."We consider this decision and these sanctions unjustified and illegal under international law."

US officials said they
were aware of reports that Moscow may have ordered the closure of the
Anglo-American School in the Russian capital - attended by many children
of diplomats - but they could not confirm those reports, said news
agency AFP.Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry's spokeswoman, denied reports about the school closure on Friday morning. Lisa Monaco, Mr Obama's homeland security adviser, said:
"These 35 individuals were basically collecting intelligence. They were
intelligence officers operating here and using these compounds for
intelligence collection."We are expelling those 35 intelligence officers and their families and shutting down that intelligence collection activity."She added: "We are prepared for retaliatory steps the Russian government may take."The Russian Embassy in Washington said a plane was being sent from Moscow to pick up those who had been expelled.

A spokesman said: "For
diplomats and their families to leave the US an aircraft of the Rossiya
Special Flight Squadron will be sent to the US."

How could Russia respond?Vladimir Putin has ruled out direct retaliation for now, but
he also says Russia "reserves the right" to respond. Here are a number
of options he and his advisers could be considering.

Expel US diplomats. Sending American officials home would be
a traditional tit-for-tat response more or less in line with the rules
of international diplomacy. The Russians could up the ante by kicking
out Ambassador John Tefft (the US has said it is not expelling Russia's
ambassador), which would leave a key post for Donald Trump to fill when
he takes power on January 20.

Shut down US diplomatic compounds. The foreign ministry has denied
plans to close the American School in Moscow, which is popular with
expat families. However, it could close the Embassy holiday dacha at
Serebryany Bor on the Moscow outskirts.

Something else. Previous "asymmetric" responses to American
moves have included banning US citizens from adopting Russian
orphans and banning food imports from countries that sanctioned Russia
over its annexation of Crimea.

Do nothing. With Donald Trump entering the White House on January
20, the Kremlin could decide it is worth refraining from countermeasures
as a goodwill gesture to the new president. Instead it may confine
itself to insulting Tweets about Barack Obama.

The
Obama administration’s sanctions on Russia for meddling in our election
put Donald Trump in a very difficult position. If Mr. Trump still wants
to be friendly with Russia, he is playing right into its hands and
becoming Russia’s patsy.

If
Russia ends up undermining and manipulating us once again, it will make
Mr. Trump look like a weak, foolish and naïve president and could end
up severely damaging American interests.

The sanctions are more of a message to Mr. Trump than to President Vladimir Putin, to show that Russia can’t be trusted.

KENNETH L. ZIMMERMAN

Huntington Beach, Calif.

To the Editor:

While
I applaud President Obama for enforcing sanctions against Vladimir
Putin and the Russian hackers, I think there must also be harsh
financial sanctions. Why aren’t known Russian assets in the United
States frozen? Merely kicking spies or alleged spies out of our country
and closing compounds isn’t enough. Mr. Putin must be made to feel the
full weight of our government’s and citizens’ disapproval of his
actions.

No
person or potential political candidate should feel threatened by such a
preventable act as hacking. I implore our intelligence and security
services to work together for the common good, and for our government to
seek avenues of repudiation so egregious they make prospective hackers
recoil from future criminal activities.

Donald
Trump’s cavalier and almost bored response to Russian cyberattacks
should raise a big red flag for every American regardless of party. This
isn’t something we should “move on” from. This is serious stuff. A
hostile foreign government successfully interfered in our national
election.

Why
aren’t Americans marching in the streets, demanding to know exactly how
and why this happened? Why did it take Republican politicians many
months, until just now, to take this seriously? It is very, very serious
and yet much of the country has been asleep at the wheel.

I
plead with every American of every stripe to demand information and
evidence about why Russia’s goal was to help Donald Trump get elected
and hurt Hillary Clinton. We must demand an investigation into Mr.
Trump’s bizarre alignment with Vladimir Putin. If this has been
investigated by our intelligence agencies, we as American citizens must
see the information they have discovered.

Have
Mr. Trump’s relentless abhorrent words, deeds and Twitter inanities so
deeply distracted us that we have forgotten who we are?

MARYELLEN LINNEHAN

Chappaqua, N.Y.

To the Editor:

It
appears as though President-elect Donald Trump is on a collision course
with two powerful and politically savvy members of the Republican
Party, Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham. During the campaign Mr.
Trump said that Mr. McCain was “not a war hero,” and he publicly released Mr. Graham’s cellphone number. Now these two senators are calling for a thorough investigation into the possibility that Russian hacking interfered with an American election.

So
far Mr. Trump’s response has been that of the police officer trying to
discourage public attention: “Nothing to see here, folks. Just move
along.” He claims that sooner or later he’ll find the time to get a
complete briefing from the intelligence community, so that he can learn
the truth. But until that time don’t worry, because he’s working on the
real big things that confront our great nation. Plus the Russian hacking
is so yesterday’s news.

My
guess is that Senators McCain and Graham have already found the time to
talk to the right people in the intelligence community, and they
already know the truth about the Russian hacking, and the truth is not
good.

NEIL J. BLUM

Glenview, Ill.

A version of this letter appears in print on December 31, 2016, on Page A22 of the New York edition with the headline: Obama, Trump and Russian Hacking. Today's Paper|Subscribe

Friday 30 December 2016 07.47 GMT

Trump wants to ‘move on’ but says he will meet intelligence officials

The Obama administration
on Thursday announced its retaliation for Russian efforts to interfere
with the US presidential election, ordering sweeping new sanctions that
included the expulsion of 35 Russians.

US intelligence services believe Russia ordered cyber-attacks on the Democratic National Committee
(DNC), Hillary Clinton’s campaign and other political organizations, in
an attempt to influence the election in favor of the Republican
candidate, Donald Trump.In a statement issued two weeks after the president said
he would respond to cyber-attacks by Moscow “at a time and place of our
choosing”, Obama said Americans should “be alarmed by Russia’s actions”
and pledged further action. “I have issued an executive order that provides additional authority
for responding to certain cyber activity that seeks to interfere with or
undermine our election processes and institutions, or those of our
allies or partners,” Obama said in the statement, released while he was
vacationing with his family in Hawaii. “Using this new authority, I have sanctioned nine entities and
individuals: the GRU and the FSB, two Russian intelligence services;
four individual officers of the GRU; and three companies that provided
material support to the GRU’s cyber operations. “In addition, the secretary of the treasury is designating two
Russian individuals for using cyber-enabled means to cause
misappropriation of funds and personal identifying information.” He also
announced the closure of two Russian compounds in the US.Obama added that more actions would be taken, “some of which will not be publicized”.

On
Thursday, Trump, who has previously dismissed reports of Russian
interference in the election, said in a statement: “It’s time for our
country to move on to bigger and better things.” He added, however, that “in the interest of our country and its great
people, I will meet with leaders of the intelligence community next
week in order to be updated on the facts of this situation.”In a conference call with reporters, senior White House officials
said the president-elect’s transition team was informed of the sanctions
before they were announced on Thursday. Trump and Obama spoke on
Wednesday, they said.The officials added that the actions were a necessary response to “very disturbing Russian threats to US national security”.“There has to be a cost and a consequence for what Russia
has done,” a senior administration official said. “It is in a
extraordinary step for them to interfere in the democratic process here
in the United States of America. There needs to be a price for that.”In Moscow, a Putin spokesman said Russia regretted the new sanctions and would consider retaliatory measures.Diplomatic expulsions are normally met with exactly reciprocal
action. In this case, however, Moscow may pause for thought. With Trump,
who has spoken positively about Russia and Vladimir Putin, just three weeks away from the White House, Russia may feel it is inadvisable to kick out 35 US diplomats.However, Russian authorities on Thursday ordered the Anglo-American School of Moscow closed, according to CNN,
citing a US official briefed on the matter. The school serves children
of US, British and Canadian embassy personnel, and would effectively
make a Russian posting difficult for US diplomats with families. Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the international affairs committee
in the upper house of the Russian parliament, was quoted by the RIA
news agency as saying the US move represented “the death throes of
political corpses”.The Twitter feed of the Russian embassy in London, meanwhile, called the Obama administration “hapless” and attached a picture of a duck with the word “LAME” emblazoned across it.On the White House call, officials were asked about the prospect of
Trump overturning the sanctions. They acknowledged that a future
president could reverse course but warned against such an “inadvisable”
step.

“We have no reason to believe that Russia’s activities will cease,” a
senior official said. “One reason why I think it is necessary to
sustain these actions is because there’s every reason to believe Russia
will interfere with future US elections.”On Capitol Hill, Democrats applauded the president’s action, called
for further measures and emphasized bipartisan support for a thorough
investigation into Russian hacking.“I hope the incoming Trump administration, which has been far too
close to Russia throughout the campaign and transition, won’t think for
one second about weakening these new sanctions or our existing regime,”
incoming Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

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“Both
parties ought to be united in standing up to Russian interference in
our elections, to their cyber attacks, their illegal annexation of
Crimea and other extra-legal interventions.”Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate foreign relations
committee, called for further sanctions from the new Congress when it
convenes in January.GOP leaders were quick to frame the new sanctions as too little, too late.“While today’s action by the administration is overdue,” House
speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement, “it is an appropriate way to end
eight years of failed policy with Russia. And it serves as a prime
example of this administration’s ineffective foreign policy that has
left America weaker in the eyes of the world.”Republican senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, two of Russia’s
fiercest critics, echoed Ryan but also called for tough Congressional
sanctions.“Ultimately, [the sanctions] are a small price for Russia to pay for
its brazen attack on American democracy,” the two men said in a joint
statement. “We intend to lead the effort in the new Congress to impose
stronger sanctions on Russia.”

The 35 Russian diplomats being expelled are “intelligence
operatives”, Obama said. The state department has declared them “persona
non grata” and they will be given 72 hours to leave the
country.Starting on Friday at noon, the White House said, Russia will be
denied access to compounds in Maryland and New York that have been used
for intelligence-related purposes.A statement from the state department said the diplomatic expulsions
were a response not only to hacking but to “a pattern of harassment of
our diplomats overseas, that has increased over the last four years,
including a significant increase in the last 12 months”. The statement said the harassment has included “arbitrary police
stops, physical assault, and the broadcast on state TV of personal
details about our personnel that put them at risk”.For some time, US diplomats in Russia have anecdotally reported being followed and harassed by police.In June,
a US diplomat was wrestled to the ground by a policeman as he scrambled
to get inside the embassy. Russian authorities said the man was a CIA
agent operating under diplomatic cover.

Donald Trump is answering calls for the U.S. to
respond to Russian hacking by saying computers have "complicated lives
very greatly."

Trump is referring to calls by some on Capitol Hill to sanction Russia over accusations it tampered with the U.S. election.

Speaking to journalists at his Palm Beach,
Florida, estate, Trump is not addressing the issue of sanctions.

He adds, "Nobody knows what's going on."

Trump says he has not spoken with senators calling for sanctions but believes "we have to get on with our lives."

Donald Trump has held his longest
question-and-answer session with reporters since Election Day — and he
did it with legendary boxing entrepreneur Don King.

King is regaling reporters with his own catchphrase, "Only in America," and Trump's campaign slogan, "Make America Great again."

Trump and King spoke to reporters Wednesday night at the entrance to Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.

King is carrying about a dozen Israeli and
American flags and wearing two big diamond necklaces, one of the Star of
David and one of the American flag.

He is calling for "peace in the Middle East" and says he wants "everyone to come together as one unit and make things happen."

King is also wearing a large pin featuring a picture of Trump.

___

6:30 p.m.

President-elect Donald Trump is telling visitors
to his Florida club that he plans to write his inaugural address
himself and is drawing inspiration from Presidents Ronald Reagan and
John F. Kennedy.

That's according to a person who has spoken with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, the South Florida club where he is spending the holidays.

Trump has told visitors that Reagan had "incredible style." He has also noted the upcoming 100th anniversary of Kennedy's birth.

The president-elect is also spending some his
time in Florida focusing on veterans' health issues and has told
visitors he plans to make that a priority in his administration.

The person who spoke with Trump insisted on anonymity in order to disclose private conversations.

__ AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace contributed this item.

___

6 p.m.

President Barack Obama is committing to
continuing talks with President-elect Donald Trump, even as Trump
accuses him of throwing up "roadblocks" to a smooth transition of power.

Obama called Trump on Wednesday morning from
Hawaii, where Obama is on vacation with his family. The White House says
the call was "positive" and focused on "continuing a smooth and
effective transition."

White House spokesman Eric Schultz says Obama's
other calls with Trump since the election have also been positive. He
says Obama and Trump agreed that their teams will keep working together
until Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump said on Twitter that the transition was not going smoothly and blamed Obama.

But he later told reporters that he and Obama "had a very nice conversation."

___

5:15 p.m.

Donald Trump is touting plans by a Japanese mogul to bring 8,000 jobs to the United States.

Tech billionaire Masayoshi Son promised to create 50,000 jobs after meeting with the president-elect in December.

Son is the founder and chief executive of
SoftBank, one of Japan's largest technology outfits. He owns the U.S.
mobile carrier Sprint, which Trump said Wednesday would be moving 5,000
jobs "back" to the United States. Son also controls OneWeb, which Trump
said would hire 3,000 workers.

It was unclear whether the president-elect was
referencing Son's earlier commitment to invest $50 billion in the United
States and create 50,000 jobs.

Trump attributed the addition of 8,000 jobs to "what's happening and the spirit and the hope."

__ This item has been corrected to identify the second company as OneWeb, not OneWest.

___

3:45 p.m.

Donald Trump now says the White House transition
is going "smoothly" after complaining earlier about some of President
Barack Obama's "statements and roadblocks."

Earlier Wednesday, Trump wrote on Twitter:
"Doing my best to disregard the many inflammatory President O statements
and roadblocks. Thought it was going to be a smooth transition — NOT!"

In brief remarks to journalists at his
Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida Wednesday, Trump was asked about the tweet
and how he thought the transition was going.

The president and president-elect have exchanged
some criticism in recent days after Obama hypothetically said he
would've beaten Trump if they had been opponents in the general
election. To that, Trump responded, "No way!"

__

11:20 a.m.

An inauguration event that drew scrutiny for
appearing to put access to President-elect Donald Trump and two of his
children up for bid has officially been scrapped.

The "Opening Day" event, which had originally
been scheduled for Jan. 21 to raise money for conservation charities,
will now be held in the spring. That's according to the event's
co-chairs.

Trump's sons Eric and Donald Jr. had been named
as directors of a nonprofit that had initially advertised offering $1
million donors the chance to rub elbows with the new president at a
"Camouflage & Cufflinks" ball the day after his swearing-in. Also up
for bid: a multi-day hunting or fishing trip with his sons.

Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks later said the family had not been involved.

___

10:30 a.m.

President-elect Donald Trump is resuming his busy schedule of meetings following a brief lull for the holidays.

Trump first met with David Rubenstein, head of
investment firm Carlyle Group, and also is scheduled to meet Wednesday
with a number of medical professionals.

They include: Mayo Clinic chief executive John
Noseworthy; the head of Johns Hopkins medical center, Paul Rothman; the
head of the Cleveland Clinic, Toby Cosgrove; and Partners Healthcare
chief executive David Torchiana.

Trump also is meeting with Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

The president-elect wrote on Twitter on Wednesday that Israel "used to have a great friend in the U.S., but ... not anymore."

Trump said the Iran nuclear deal under the Obama
administration was "the beginning of the end" and then came the vote in
the United Nations condemning the building of Israeli settlements in
the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

He told Israel to "stay strong" because he will be in office soon.

Trump's comments come amid growing tensions between the U.S. and Israel following the UN vote.

Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to address the issue in a speech later Wednesday.

___

9:40 a.m.

President Barack Obama seems to be getting under his successor's skin.

President-elect Donald Trump says on Twitter
that he's doing his "best" to "disregard the many inflammatory President
O statements and roadblocks."

He says he "Thought it was going to be a smooth transition - NOT!"

Obama told his former White House adviser David
Axelrod in a podcast released Monday that he believes he could have won
had he run for a third term. Trump said he disagreed.

Trump has his transition team have until now
been largely complimentary of the way President Obama and his White
House team have handled the transition of power from one administration
to the next.

Organizers Hope Women's March On Washington Inspires, Evolves

San Francisco high school students protest in opposition
to Donald Trump's presidential victory. Protests like it have been
springing up all over the country, and a women's protest is planned for
Jan. 21.

Eric Risberg/AP

The day after President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, Jan. 20, 2017, a march is slated to take place on the National Mall.It's being called the Women's March on Washington. (It was being referred to, somewhat controversially, as the "Million Women March" before it was re-branded.) At this point, thousands of women and allies plan to rally here for the Women's March on Washington.
The march aims to "send a bold message to our new administration on
their first day in office, and to the world that women's rights are
human rights," according to the event's official website.

"Frankly,
it’s mystifying that Trump continues to defend Russia and Putin, even
as he excoriates everyone else, from C.I.A. officials to a local union
leader in Indiana. Let’s be clear: This was an attack on America, less
lethal than a missile but still profoundly damaging to our system. It’s
not that Trump and Putin were colluding to steal an election. But if the
C.I.A. is right, Russia apparently was trying to elect a president who
would be not a puppet exactly but perhaps something of a lap dog — a
Russian poodle. Now we come to the most reckless step of all: This
Russian poodle is acting in character by giving important government
posts to friends of Moscow,
in effect rewarding it for its attack on the United States. "So it’s
critical that the Senate, the news media and the public subject
Tillerson to intense scrutiny. We must be vigilant and recognize what
is afoot!" WOOF!

Read the rest of the story HERE:At www.nytimes.com

Trump Is Not the Problem

Donald Trump may
be the ultimate con man, having convinced about 25% of the American
public who voted for him that he was a populist interested in helping
the working class. His recent cabinet appointments of banksters and
corporate elites prove otherwise. Although the prospect of this man as
president for the next 4 years is frightening to even contemplate, it’s
not really Trump that’s the problem. He is just a symptom of the deeper
problem we have in America: the fact that our country is morally and
ethically bankrupt.For at least the last half century, we have lived in a culture not of
self-awareness, but of self absorption — a culture in which concern for
the greater good has been replaced by a “what’s in it for me?”
attitude. Racism, misogyny, and xenophobia are ingrained in our culture.
We have just covered it over with political correctness so we can deny
how extensive an issue it really is. But just like an alcoholic, we
can’t begin to recover unless we admit we have a problem.Just try to hint that the US is not the greatest country in the world
and you’ll be labeled a traitor, despite the fact that we are number 1
in some of the worst statistics possible. We are first in rates of
obesity, divorce, incarceration, gun deaths per capita, infant
mortality, rape, murder, and student loan debt, to name just a few.
Meanwhile, we are last in paid sick days, paid maternity leave, income
equality, and programs that reflect a society that cares for its people.Far too often, the poor, working-class white population votes against
their best interests. It’s easier for them to believe that an immigrant
or a person of color is stealing their livelihood than to accept that a
wealthy white billionaire doesn’t have their best interests in mind,
and that there is no such thing as The American Dream.The reality is that the system is set up to ensure there will always be a huge gap between the rich and the poor
because the elites want it that way and most people don’t care enough
to do anything about it. We are a country that does not like to take
personal responsibility for anything, particularly if it requires
effort. We would rather have someone else take care of everything so we
can go back to watching Monday Night Football.The average American barely gives a passing thought to the suffering we are causing to innocent civilians around the world in the 7 countries
on which we are currently dropping bombs. Unless it’s in their own
backyard, they just don’t care. Imagine just a single one of those bombs
suddenly dropping on your home while you are in the middle of dinner,
killing your children, husband, wife. What is unimaginable for us is
daily life for some.For centuries, Western culture has been dominated by white men
obsessed with empire-building. They feel it is their God-given right to
invade less developed countries, steal their resources at will, and then
expect the conquered to be grateful to us for “liberating” them from
their backward ways. We commit mass murder around the world and don’t
think twice about it. The hubris is astounding, and like Rome, it will
ultimately be the instrument of our downfall.Fears of Trump becoming the next Hitler are unnecessary because we’re
already there. Hitler may have gathered the Jews into extermination
camps to systematically murder them, but we have been systematically
murdering Muslims in their own countries for at least the past 26 years.
An estimated 4 million Muslims have been killed due to our wars. The genocide is the same, just under a different façade.The very founding of our country is a prime example. White Europeans
arrived here in the 17th century and began to commit genocide against
the indigenous Americans practically from day one. Those atrocities
continue to this day in the form of government-approved militarized
mercenaries violently attacking peacefully protesting Native Americans
with rubber bullets, pepper spray, sound cannons and concussion
grenades.We seem to have forgotten that we were once the immigrants here.
Every US citizen, unless they are from one of the many indigenous tribes
that were here far before the first pilgrims, has an immigrant
ancestor. Yet it’s amazing how many people say it’s the immigrants who
are hurting our country. Like your own great-grandparents once did, most
immigrants work hard to establish their lives here. A long-term study
has shown that immigrants do far more good for the economy than harm;
however, the oligarchy wants to distract you from knowing who the real
welfare queens are: the banks and our corporate-owned government.Congress doesn’t want you to know
that they are the reason why you have unaffordable health care. They
are the reason our youth are drowning in student debt, and could never
dream of making nearly as much money as their parents did — all while
they find money to bail out the banks. Congress never has a problem
funding more than 50% of the annual budget for the benefit of the
military industrial complex, and never have to worry about losing their
100% government-paid health insurance.As Noam Chomsky and Martin Luther King
said, America is socialist for the rich and capitalist for the poor. We
allow our government to bail out the banks while working people lose
their homes. The wealthy like to maintain a comfortable gap between
themselves and everyone else. If everyone is wealthy, nobody is. How
could they continue to feel superior? The far-right white supremacists
(often oddly called alt-right) have massive fears of immigrants and
minorities, believing they are the ones responsible for the
disappearance of what they always believed to be their racially
guaranteed upward mobility.Our educational system is a joke; the oligarchy does not want an
educated population. If Americans were actually taught to think for
themselves, they might begin to question government policies. For
example, I’ll bet you didn’t know that our income taxes do not fund federal spending.
So any government official claiming there is not enough tax money to
fund universal health care, higher education, etc. is either ignorant or
flat-out lying.But even if it’s not your “hard-earned dollars” that would pay for
these vital programs, what type of person thinks that any human being
does not have the right to decent health care? Universal health care is
not even a question in every other Western country, all of which have
some form of it. People in these countries almost universally state that
health care is an inalienable human right.It’s no wonder the Kardashians and reality TV shows like The X Factor and American Idol are so popular, not to mention Trump’s own show, The Apprentice.
We glorify unbridled wealth, cutthroat competition, and cruelty. The
meaner and more demeaning, the better. We shore up our huge insecurities
by belittling others, whether they are TV contestants, women, or
minorities.None of this will change until we make significant changes to our
ethical code. We need to learn from the Native Americans and adopt a
different way of looking at our existence on this planet. Much can be
learned from what’s happened at Standing Rock. The indigenous peoples of
this country understand that everyone is their relative. What harms one
of us harms all of us. They have respect for the earth upon which we
all must live and which provides us with food and water. They have
astoundingly met brutal violence with only love and compassion.Privatization must end. The earth’s natural resources should be owned
by all of humanity collectively. Nobody should have the ability to make
a profit on a natural resource. Along with a minimum wage, there also
needs to be a maximum wage. No more allowing a small handful of people
to hoard money in amounts so large they could never possibly spend it
all, when meanwhile their fellow citizens are struggling to feed their
children.We seem to have lost our sense of compassion for other human beings.
Yet we wonder how Donald Trump won the presidency? We need to take a
serious look in the mirror and see the ways in which Trump is simply a
reflection of the darkest parts of ourselves and examine where it comes
from, rather than running from it. At that point, we can make conscious
changes and become a better people.A striking example of this is the stirring ceremony
that occurred at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in early December,
in which US military veterans asked forgiveness from the Native
Americans for the numerous crimes the military had committed against
them. Recognizing and admitting our part in these atrocities allows for a
beginning in healing the world instead of harming it.We must always try to remember that we are all members of the same
human race living on the same fragile planet. When we make significant
changes to our outlook on others and on the world around us, we will
finally stop getting leaders like Trump.

Donald Trump: The Russian Poodle

In
1972, President Richard Nixon’s White House dispatched burglars to bug
Democratic Party offices. That Watergate burglary and related “dirty
tricks,” such as releasing mice at a Democratic press conference and
paying a woman to strip naked and shout her love for a Democratic
candidate, nauseated Americans — and impelled some of us kids at the
time to pursue journalism.

Now
in 2016 we have a political scandal that in some respects is even more
staggering. Russian agents apparently broke into the Democrats’ digital
offices and tried to change the election outcome. President Obama on
Friday suggested that this was probably directed by Russia’s president,
saying, “Not much happens in Russia without Vladimir Putin.”

In
Watergate, the break-in didn’t affect the outcome of the election. In
2016, we don’t know for sure. There were other factors, but it’s
possible that Russia’s theft and release of the emails provided the
margin for Donald Trump’s victory.

The C.I.A. says it has “high confidence” that Russia was trying to get Trump elected, and, according to The Washington Post, the directors of the F.B.I. and national intelligence agree with that conclusion.

Both
Nixon and Trump responded badly to the revelations, Nixon by ordering a
cover-up and Trump by denouncing the C.I.A. and, incredibly, defending
Russia from the charges that it tried to subvert our election. I never
thought I would see a dispute between America’s intelligence community
and a murderous foreign dictator in which an American leader sided with
the dictator.

Let’s
be clear: This was an attack on America, less lethal than a missile but
still profoundly damaging to our system. It’s not that Trump and Putin
were colluding to steal an election. But if the C.I.A. is right, Russia
apparently was trying to elect a president who would be not a puppet
exactly but perhaps something of a lap dog — a Russian poodle.

In
Britain, Prime Minister Tony Blair was widely (and unfairly) mocked as
President George W. Bush’s poodle, following him loyally into the Iraq
war. The fear is that this time Putin may have interfered to acquire an
ally who likewise will roll over for him.

Frankly,
it’s mystifying that Trump continues to defend Russia and Putin, even
as he excoriates everyone else, from C.I.A. officials to a local union
leader in Indiana.

Now
we come to the most reckless step of all: This Russian poodle is acting
in character by giving important government posts to friends of Moscow,
in effect rewarding it for its attack on the United States.

Rex Tillerson,
Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, is a smart and capable manager.
Yet it’s notable that he is particularly close to Putin, who had
decorated Tillerson with Russia’s “Order of Friendship.”

Whatever
our personal politics, how can we possibly want to respond to Russia’s
interference in our election by putting American foreign policy in the
hands of a Putin friend?

Tillerson’s
closeness to Putin is especially troubling because of Trump’s other
Russia links. The incoming national security adviser, Michael Flynn,
accepted Russian money to attend a dinner in Moscow and sat near Putin. A
ledger shows
$12.7 million in secret payments by a pro-Russia party in Ukraine to
Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort. And the Trump family
itself has business connections with Russia.

It’s
true that there will be counterbalances, including Gen. James Mattis,
the former Marine commander who has no illusions about Moscow and is
expected to be confirmed as defense secretary. But over all it looks as
if the Trump administration will be remarkably pro-Putin — astonishing
considering Putin’s Russia has killed journalists, committed war crimes in Ukraine and Syria and threatened the peaceful order in Europe.

So
it’s critical that the Senate, the news media and the public subject
Tillerson to intense scrutiny. There are other issues to explore as
well, including his role in enabling corruption in Chad, one of the
poorest countries in the world. The same is true of his role in complicity with the government of Angola, where oil corruption turned the president’s daughter into a billionaire even as children died of poverty and disease at a higher rate than anywhere else in the world.

Maybe
all this from Russia to Angola was just Tillerson trying to maximize
his company’s revenue, and he will act differently as secretary of
state. Maybe. But I’m skeptical that his ideology would change in
fundamental ways.

This
is not only about Tillerson just as the 1972 break-in was not only
about the Watergate building complex. This is about the integrity of
American democracy and whether a foreign dictator should be rewarded for
attacking the United States. It is about whether we are led by a
president or a poodle.

Yes Betty, either or it seems he wanted to fly only with
Singapore Airways.

Boeing or Airbus, it’s just the same
isn’t it? Aren’t they both just fat birds with 500 passengers?

Yes, but Singapore Airlines has the
most beautiful airhostesses: delicate, fine, graceful…Mr. Tigerli had looked forward to the flight
so much!

So the little man was disappointed?

You just can’t imagine how disappointed
he was.

But thank God one of the hostesses was a
pretty Chinese girl. Mr. Tigerli purred loudly but she didn’t hear him because
the purring of the Airbus 380 was even louder.

The poor cat!

You’ve said it Betty. Mr. Tigerli was
in a very bad mood and asked me for a loud speaker.

I’m sure you can get one in 1st
Class.

“”Russian Girl” had even heard you over
the roar of the Niagara Falls” I said to Mr. Tigerli. “You are a very
unfaithful cat. You wanted to get to know Asiatic girls. That’s how it is when
one leaves one’s first love”.

And what did he say to that?

“Men are hunters” was his answer.

Yes, my dear cat, a mouse hunter. And
what else did he say?

Not another word. He behaved as if he
hadn’t heard me.

The Airbus is very loud.

I told him shortly “Don’t trouble
yourself about “Chinese Girl”. There will be enough even prettier girls in
China. Wait till we land in Guilin”.

About Me

Betty MacDonald Fan Club, founded by Wolfgang Hampel, has members in 40 countries.
Wolfgang Hampel, author of Betty MacDonald biography interviewed Betty MacDonald's family and friends. His Interviews have been published on CD and DVD by Betty MacDonald Fan Club. If you are interested in the Betty MacDonald Biography or the Betty MacDonald Interviews send us a mail, please.
Several original Interviews with Betty MacDonald are available.
We are also organizing international Betty MacDonald Fan Club Events for example, Betty MacDonald Fan Club Eurovision Song Contest Meetings in Oslo and Düsseldorf, Royal Wedding Betty MacDonald Fan Club Event in Stockholm and Betty MacDonald Fan Club Fifa Worldcup Conferences in South Africa and Germany.
Betty MacDonald Fan Club Honour Members are Monica Sone, author of Nisei Daughter and described as Kimi in Betty MacDonald's The Plague and I, Betty MacDonald's nephew, artist and writer Darsie Beck, Betty MacDonald fans and beloved authors and artists Gwen Grant, Letizia Mancino, Perry Woodfin, Traci Tyne Hilton, Tatjana Geßler, music producer Bernd Kunze, musician Thomas Bödigheimer, translater Mary Holmes and Mr. Tigerli.